


How to Stop the Destruction of Your Kingdom in 3 Easy Steps (And Maybe Fall in Love)

by Psybee



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Koopalings are Bowser kids, Multi, No Beta Reader; We Die Like Men, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2020-09-23 12:03:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20339803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psybee/pseuds/Psybee
Summary: After being blamed for King Bowser's disappearance (and rumored death), Princess Peach has been given just 2 weeks to find the missing royal and bring him back to the Mushroom Kingdom else Ludwig and the others will raze every building in the land to the ground and salt the earth, as is Koopa war time tradition.And who knows, maybe fall in love?But what Peach doesn't know is there is someone in the shadows that will do everything in their power to see her fail....





	1. Day 0

It was a beautiful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was shining (and not homicidal), the birds were chirping and (for once) there were no cataclysmic events affecting the domain of one Princess Peach Toadstool. For Her Royal Highness, everything was coming up well… peachy. And speaking of the not-technically-but-really-should-be monarch, the princess was currently entertaining some of her visiting friends on one of the castle's many balconies over looking the kingdom.

“Oh Princess. Our time here has been so lovely,” gushed Mrs. Shroomlock as she poured herself another cup of tea.

Toce T. nodded, gingerly taking a small petit four. “Everyone has been so accommodating and friendly. Almost feels like we're royalty.”

Chanterelle daintily wiped her mouth and pondered, “Though I do have to say I am surprised. I was half expecting Bowser to come and sweep you away. It's rather odd not to see his airships in the skies or so I'm told.”

“We won't see much of Bowser since they're going to be signing the peace treaty,” Toadette said before popping a biscuit into her mouth. Small chat was replaced with the sound of cups dropping onto saucers. Toadette looked up from her small plate to see the shocked looks on the other ladies' faces. It was then the retainer remembered that the soon-to-be-signed peace treaty with the Darklands wasn't public knowledge just yet. She grimaced and looked sheepish as she turned to the princess. “Oops. I forgot.”

But instead of chastising her, Peach just smiled and brought the teacup to her lips and drank her tea. The moment she set it down, she was bombarded with questions from her guests.

“A peace treaty!?! With the Darklands?!?!"

"Is he holding Mario hostage again?!?!"

"My dear Peach, is he blackmailing you into marriage?!?"

"No, no and goodness, no." Peach poured herself another cup before refocusing on her semi-panicked guests. "All you need to know that when this treaty is finally the Mushroom Kingdom and the Darklands will finally become allies. No more abductions, rescue attempts, or forced weddings."

Chanterelle leaned over and looked towards Peach's hands, obviously looking for any new rings on her fingers but found none. "Hmm...well, I'm glad to hear that. If things are finally settling down then maybe I'll finally have the homecoming I've always wanted."

Peach clasped her hands happily. "That would be wonderful! Just tell me when and we'll get ready for you." She looked up at the approaching clouds. "Though I hope you weren't thinking on this week!"

"Nonsense! This would be the event of the year! I would have to plan it half -no- a full year in advance!"

The mood at the tea party turned jovial as the ladies continued to brainstormed Chanterelle's return concert. But little did they know the rapidly changing weather was only a sign of things to come for the moment the sun disappeared behind the clouds, the sound of the emergency klaxons filled the air. Peach's visitors immediately began to panic; Toce T. dove under the table whimpering, Mrs. Shroomlock began to nervously shred a napkin into confetti sized pieces and Chanterelle ran back into the castle and hid in a nearby closet.

“Oh no! Look!” Toadette yelled as she pointed out towards the edge of Toad Town. Peach rose from her seat with napkin in hand, walked to the banister and looked to where Toadette was pointing only to see the sky filled with flying gunships, all waving the Darklandian flag. There were dozens of them, far more than what Bowser would use for his invasions. None of them were firing on the town but still seeing the sheer amount of war machines coming straight for her castle made Peach very uneasy and a little upset. He promised not to pull a stunt like this again...

_"But why?" Bowser grumbled as the royals walked about Peach's garden. Mario, trying to be sneaky, was only a few paces behind the two, much to Bowser's chagrin."The airships show how great and powerful I am!"_

_"That's the point Bowser." Peach said, shaking her head, "A show of force is not the best way to get the Mushroom Council on your side. It'll make them even more scared."_

_"Bah, who cares about those stuffy rotten vegetables!?"_

_"I do Bowser. They're my advisers. They're my people and without them, what would I be the princess of?" She sighed and placed her hand atop his own. "Please can you do this for me?"_

_Bowser stroked his chin. "Hmm...I'll do it but only if you go out on a date with me."_

_"I can't go out on a date with you." Bowser was about to complain but the Princess immediately cut him off. "_But, _I can go with you on a diplomatic outing that will strengthen our nations relationship."_

_"Uh...Peach, that's what we call a date in the Darklands."_

_"That may be so but in the Mushroom Kingdom there is a difference."_

_"And what's that Princess?"_

_She pointed a finger back at the not really sneaky plumber."How far away Mario is."_

_Bowser was silent for a few moments and then let out a booming laugh. "Diplomatic outing it is!"_

“Princess!” 

Toadsworth grabbed her arm, pulling her out her thoughts and literally back into the castle. “We have to get you to the panic room. I've already sent for Masters Mario and Luigi. Peace treaty my arse, we shall show those overgrown turtles what happens when you break your word!"

“No.” Peach pulled her arm out of his grip, set her napkin on the table and walked back into the castle. “Take my guests to safety. Have the guards open the castle's main gate. And get Mario on the line and tell him not to hurt any of Bowser's troops. I want to know what is with Bowser's show of force.”

As Toadsworth's began to stammer out excuses, Peach turned to him with her eyebrows raised. "You're refusing a direct order from your princess?"

The old Toad furiously shook his head. "What?! Of course not princess!"

"Good. I'll be in the throne room seeing to our new 'visitors.' If it turns out to be a kidnapping, you know what to do." With that, Peach walked out of the room leaving a distressed Toadsworth. She hated throwing around her title but sometimes Toadsworth could be so argumentative and short sighted. For all they knew it could just be Bowser being Bowser.

Well, at least she hoped. 

After climbing down several staircases and ignoring many panicked Toads, Princess Peach pushed open a door and entered the throne room only to see that one of her 'visitors' was already there.

"You tell me where my Mama is!"

"Bowser Junior?" Bowser's beloved, bratty son was holding one of the Toad castle guards by the shoulders and shaking him until the poor Toad's face was turning green. At sound of his name, Junior dropped the guard and spun towards the princess.

"MAMA!" The Koopa prince ran over to Peach and gave her a big hug, almost bowling her in the process. She returned the hug as best she could and then pulled away from him. "Junior, what are you doing here? Where's your father?"

At the mention of his dad, Junior became very scared and started pulling Peach to the door she came from. "Mama Peach! We gotta go before the others get here!"

"The others?"

The two massive doors at the other of the room were thrown open and smoke filled that end of the room. Several guards slowly came out of the smoke, pointing their spears at the opening. Bowser's forces walked out of the smoke soon after: Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Hammer Bros, and a giant group Chain Chomps being restrained by Boom-Boom. They marched right towards to the throne stopping only a few feet from where Junior and Peach stood.

"Make way for the royal Koopalings!"

The koopas and goombas stepped aside. And from the entrance came Bowser's kids with Ludwig leading them. Each of them wore a side cape of their respective color. Like the rest of their minions, the children stopped short of the stairs that led to the throne.

Peach was about to speak when Morton Jr. rushed up the stairs and tried to grab at Junior who backed out of his reach. "Come here you little traitor!"

"No! And I'm no traitor!" Junior ran to the throne and ducked behind it. Morton let out a roar and starting stomping towards the younger Koopa but stopped when Ludwig yelled after him, "Morton! Here! Now!" 

The larger Koopa growled at his older brother but followed his orders and descended the stairs to join his siblings. Peach moved towards the throne and put herself between the large group and Bowser Junior. She then cleared her throat and addressed the Koopalings, “Normally I would welcome Bowser's children to our fair kingdom, but the fact you have brought what looks to be your entire armada with you perturbs me.”

"Well Princess Peach, these are not normal circumstances," Ludwig replied as he climbed up the stairs and stood before the Mushroom royal. "That being said, I will give you one chance to tell me the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yes." He turned to the army, his arm outstretched, "Tell us all why you killed the great King Bowser Koopa! If it is satisfactory, then we shall only kill you and leave your kingdom untouched."

A chill went through the princess' body. Her knees became weak and she leaned onto the throne. "B-Bowser's dead?"

"You should know." Ludwig looked back at Princess Peach with the angriest scowl on his face. "You killed him."

Hearing his accusation, Peach straightened herself and shook her head. "Impossible. What proof do you have?"

"We have this..."

Ludwig turned back to his forces and nodded. Two Chargin’ Chucks walked into the throne room carrying a massive Koopa shell. They placed it at the foot of the stairs, Peach slowly moved past Ludwig and descended the stairs, pulling off her gloves. As she got closer and closer, her heart began to pump harder and harder. Stepping off the last step, she was face to face with the giant shell. From the looks of it, it could be Bowser's, then again there were several giant Koopas who also could've had fit this shell. But for Peach there was only one way she could confirm that this was Bowser's shell.

"I need to see the other side, please." 

Ludwig, who had followed Peach back down, motioned towards the shell and the two Chucks flipped the battered shell over and disappeared into the crowd. Peach took a deep breath and slowly ran her fingers around the surface of the bottom most spike only to be met with uniform smoothness. Her shoulders sagged in relief. Bowser couldn't be dead. This was all a bad dream. A nightmare. 

And then her fingers hit a rough patch.

Peach's hand stilled. No, it couldn't be. Maybe it was just wear and tear, years of fights with Mario and Luigi. 

And then she felt another rough patch.

And another.

And another.

When her finger finished tracing the last patch, she realized those marks spelled something. Something that she herself had put there years prior...

_"Hey! Watch it!" Once again Bowser had kidnapped Princess Peach and the two were currently flying back to his kingdom in his Clown Copter. Unfortunately it seemed between the last kidnapping and this one, the space inside the vehicle had shrunk. _

_"Sorry princess! Looks like my training regimen worked a little too well. Gave me massive muscles. I had to get a new shell and everything. Forgot to get the engineers to make a bigger clown copter! BWAH HAH HAH!"_

_"More like you got fatter," Peach grumbled to herself. _

_"What was that?"_

_"Nothing!"_

_She was confined to a small space by Bowser's right leg with no way to escape or do anything to him while they were miles above ground. Besides the only thing the princess had in her possessions that could pass for a weapon was a flimsy little nail file. _

_"Oh, it's going to be great Peach. This new castle gots everythin' a Koopa and his bride would need. And since I made it, it's automatically awesome!"_

_Peach rolled her eyes and angrily threw the nail file at Bowser's back. It hit one of his massive spikes, scraping the surface of it, and landed near the princess. When she saw the mark it left on the shell, Peach got a devilish idea. Well, it was more elementary mean girls on the school yard than devilish. But she didn't care. It would annoying the Koopa King and make her feel better. And again, she had nothing else to do but wait until the day Mario came and sent Bowser packing. Grabbing the nail file she sidled against the wall of the Clown Copter until she was directly behind the Koopa. Then, using the edge of the file, she scratched letters into one of his spikes. _

_Just as she finished Bowser looked over his shoulder at her. "Hey! What are you doing back there?"_

_Peach moved the file behind her back and said as innocently as she could, "I'm not doing anything."_

_And what did the princess carve onto the spike?_

** _BOWSER SUCKS!_ **

The silence in the throne room was cut by a loud mournful wail that echoed off the walls and made every soldier standing in that room cringe. Peach's knees buckled and she fell to floor. It was only then she realized **_she_ **was the one who was screaming. Ludwig and Bowser Junior knelt down next her, just as Toadsworth burst into the room with Mario and Luigi. She could see Toadsworth, Ludwig and Junior arguing, yelling, talking but no sound was come out of the mouths. But she wasn't paying attention to them. All she saw was Bowser's battered shell. 

And then, nothing.


	2. Day 0 (continued)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accusations, Axes, and Abashment
> 
> AKA
> 
> Peach is so tired of everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My world's on fire,  
How 'bout yours?
> 
> Stay safe everyone.
> 
> Also I'm tired of looking at this so here ya go. Any mistakes are mine.

And then there was _something_.

Darkness. 

And then there was something _else_.

Light. 

Not pure- like from the sun- but artificial, coming from the screen that suddenly materialized before her. There was just the harsh light and the white noise coming from the screen. She held out an arm, fingertips about to touch the monitor. Then the screen buzzed to life and the white noise and bright light faded into a familiar scene. 

The tea party with her guests. 

**Beep**

That scene morphed and changed, as if someone switched the channel on a TV. Suddenly, it was the Koopalings barging into the throne room.

**Beep**

Then a vengeful Kammy Koopa cackling at her, a ball of magical energy at the tip of her wand aimed straight for Peach's heart. 

**Beep**

She was speaking with Daisy

**Beep**

Bowser and his son sick in a bed.

**Beep**

An aircraft exploding.

Be**ep**B**ee**pBe**epBe**ep**B**eep

And another scene and another and another. They were so fast, so fleeting that she couldn't couldn't make heads or tails of what was being shown. But the noise, the beeping just got louder and louder until it was just one continuous sound. 

So _loud_ and so **piercing**.

She covered her ears to block it out, to muffle it but that did nothing. Her head felt as if it were being split apart.

It was too much.

Too Much.

**TOO MUCH**.

And then all went white.

When Peach was able to finally open her eyes, it was followed by a groan and instant regret. The headache she was experiencing was worse than any migraine she'd ever dealt with. Heck, it was worse than the headaches she'd have during the annual kingdom budget meetings, listening to the governors argue about why they should see an increase in funds. The princess closed her eyes, took several deep breaths and began to rub her temples to try and get rid of the horrible pressure. Once it was down to what she felt was a manageable level, Peach opened her eyes again and noticed that she was in her bedroom and no longer dressed in her royal pink dress but in a simple white T-shirt and polka-dot pajama pants. Someone must have moved her while she was unconscious. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up only to be hit with a wave of dizziness that forced her back onto the mattress. Before she could call out to anyone, the doors on the opposite side of the room were thrown open and a very hyper Koopa sprinted in.

"Well, your rules are stupid," Bowser Junior yelled at whoever was in the hallway. He took one looked around the bedroom and then squealed happily when he saw the princess on the bed. 

"Mama!" 

Peach winced at his volume feeling the headache return. Junior ran and buried his head in her lap sniffling softly. She pat his head gently. Junior looked up at her revealing unshed tears in his eyes, "Mama! Are you okay?!"

Peach hugged him tight. "I'm-"

Just then, a flustered and out of breath Toadsworth entered the bedroom. "Princess...I'm sorry....I tried to keep him out," he said in between taking gulps of air. Peach put up a hand to stop him and let go of Junior.

"It's quite alright. I'm feeling a bit better anyway. Since you're there, Toadsworth, could you send for Prince Ludwig please? There's much to discuss." 

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't worry about that. I've already set up a meeting with the council and-"

"Toadsworth?" The chattering Toad stopped at looked at the princess. 

"Yes, what is it?"

"When I asked you to get the crown Prince, I wasn't really asking." The old Toad balked and was about to protest but the withering look she gave him shut him up. She had enough on her plate that she had to deal with.

"Of course, your Majesty. I shall send for him at once." And with that he left the room.

"Mama Peach?" The princess looked down at Bowser Junior who's head was still in her lap.

"You didn't hurt King Dad like the others say," asked Junior sniffling slightly. Peach shook her head before placing it on the younger prince's head. "I would never hurt your father."

"I knew it," Junior whispered. There was a cough from the doorway and the two separated. Toadsworth had returned with Ludwig and two of his Hammer Bros. troops in tow.

"Your Majesty, Prince Ludwig," the elder Toad announced. Bowser's eldest approached Princess Peach and gave her a customary bow. He opened his mouth to speak but Peach stopped him with an outstretched hand. 

"Prince Ludwig, you have accused the Mushroom Kingdom and myself directly for the death of King Bowser Koopa of the Darklands. I don't have to tell you that that is a very serious accusation. In my opinion, finding Bowser's shell within our borders is not enough proof that we had anything to do with-"

"There's more," Ludwig interrupted. Peach's hand fell onto her lap.

"There's more?"

"We have a witness." He nodded to his guards and one of the Hammer Bros. went into the hallway. He returned with a very nervous looking, older Koopa. She had green hair pulled tight into a ponytail, a gray shell and dressed in a dingy dark blue jumpsuit. 

"This is Koopadelli," Ludwig introduced the Koopa, "She works at the Mushroom Kingdom docks as a warehouse worker. She's the one who informed us about the King." 

When Koopadelli finally noticed Peach on the bed, she tensed up and started walking backwards until she bumped into one of the Hammer Bros. Ludwig walked over to the terrified Koopa and whispered something into her ear that seemed to put her at ease. He pulled away asking, "Okay?" The older Koopa nodded and Ludwig guided her back into the room. 

"Now, please tell the princess what you told us. Tell us what you saw happen to King Bowser."

The dock worker nodded, took a deep breath and stared at the princess still a bit fearful. "About 6 days ago I was doing my nightly shift at the warehouse," Koopadelli explained, "Moving containers-"

"Did you have anything to drink," Toadsworth tersely cut in.

"No! I wasn't sauced or buzzed or whatever!" Koopadelli looked very offended but then closed her eyes, took a deep breath and continued.

"Any who, it's time for my union break and I like to go and walk by the water and stare out into the sea. Peaceful n'all. But that night, I heard a commotion in one of the warehouses. Not one of of mine. Thought it might be some of the other guys just duking it out. They do that sometimes to relieve stress but we ain't supposed to. So I go and decide to go break it up before they get in trouble. I get to the door and then peek inside..."

"And what did you see," asked Peach.

"I see King Bowser was going toe to toe... with _you_."

Princess Peach's eyes went wide in shock but she said nothing. Koopadelli continued with her story, "His Majesty was blowing fireballs and throwing boxes like they were paper and the Princess was just floating in the air and laughing. She had these scary purple powers and was these firing beams, trying to hit the king!"

Peach closed her eyes and princess the bridge of her nose. _'Bowser and I? _Fighting_? What was going on?'_

"And then the king got on some boxes and the Princess destroyed them and Bowser got laid out the floor like **THUD**. And then Bowser said something but I couldn't hear it but then the Princess was like 'You will no longer be a thorn in my side!' And Bowser was like 'I'm gonna get you, you foe!' Then she shot him with a ball of purple magic and he was screaming and she was laughing some more and then there was a bright light and then it was gone and all I saw was Bowser's shell and she was still floating. And then I ran and ran and ran until I got to the Darklands!"

Koopadelli was out of breath by the end of the story. Ludwig placed a hand on the dock worker's shoulder. "Thank you Koopadelli. My men will take you back to the airship for your safety." He motioned to one of the bigger Koopas and they led Koopadelli out of the Princess' bedroom. He then turned back to the princess, a blank look on his face. "Well, what do you have to say to that, Princess Peach?"

Toadsworth was in the Koopalings' space in an instant, using his cane to point at Ludwig's face. "I'll tell you what we have to say! Balderdash! You coached her on what to say and furthermore-"

"What Toadsworth is trying to say," the princess cut in, "Is that someone, I haven't got the slightest clue, may be trying to frame me. I can prove that I was nowhere near the docks six nights ago."

She then turned to Toadsworth and said, "Find Securi T. and get them here ASAP."

The old Toad bowed respectfully and walked out of them but not before giving each Koopa a scowl. Once he was gone, she remembered that she was still dressed in her nightgown and this was anything but a PJs situation. "If you excuse me, I need to change. Please, take a seat while we wait for Toadsworth."

Princess got up, walked over to her closet and pulled out one of her numerous pink dresses. She walked over to the bathroom, gave Ludwig and Bowser Junior a small smile and nod and walked inside, closing the door behind her. She placed the dress on the back of the door before walking over to the sink dropping to her knees and pressing her forehead against the cool marble of the sink.

_'This all has to be a bad dream. Boswer isn't dead, the kingdom isn't on the brink of total war... This is all a bad dream.'_

Unfortunately the yelling match had developed in her bedroom proved the contrary. She quickly changed from her PJs to her formal dress, splashed water on her face and walked back into the bedroom. On one side of the room stood Bowser Junior on the bed ready to shoot a fireball, Ludwig with wand in hand, and the remaining Hammer Bro with hammers in each hand and at the door were Toadsworth and two others, neither one the Toad she sent for.

"Mario? Luigi? What are you doing here?"

Mario ignored her greeting but Luigi looked over at her and gave the princess a small wave, "Toadsworth sent-a for us. He said you were in-a trouble. And it's-a good thing we came!"

"Was this your plan," Ludwig glared at the princess before adding, "My siblings will know something is wrong if I don't come back."

Peach covered her eyes with a hand and let out a haggard sigh. "I can assure you Ludwig this is a surprise to me as much as it for you. I sent my adviser to fetch our head of surveillance."

"And here I am."

Everyone jumped and turned to the source of the voice. Standing next to the Mario brothers stood was a rather burly Toad with a gray, bushy beard. Their mushroom cap was black with cerulean spots. They wore a pair of red googles over their eyes and wore a black jump suit with the Mushroom Kingdom insignia on it. 

Peach smiled and beckoned him in. "Hello Securi T. I'm sorry to take you away from your day off."

"Your Majesty, the surveillance and safety of the kingdom is my job. I'd be insulted if you didn't send for me." They walked into the room stroking their beard, stopped before the princess and bowed respectfully. "Now then, what is that you need of me?"

"We need access to the surveillance footage from the warehouses in the port and the Royal Raceway from 6 days ago. About 11 PM- 5 AM."

Securi T. pursed their lips. "You understand what that entails princess?"

"I do."

"Very well." With that the Toad walked to the other side of the room to where a full length mirror was. They pulled out a small pink badge in the shape of the Mushroom Kingdom crest and placed it against the mirror's surface. It flashed blue and then the mirror started moving up, disappearing into a slot in the ceiling revealing six computer screens and a keyboard console that emerged from the wall. Beside the new computer station, a panel with two flaps appeared. Securi T. grabbed a chair from the balcony and placed it by the panel, and then dragged another to the computer station.

"I'm ready when you are your Majesty."

"Just a moment." Peach approached Mario and Luigi who were still on edge. "Boys, could you go and wait in the council room?"

Mario glanced at her and then the Koopas with a frown. The princess gave him a gentle smile and stated, "The doors will be open so if something bad is going to happen, I'll scream and you can come running."

Mario's face still had a frown but that turned into shock as his brother grabbed onto the back of his shirt and began dragging him out of the room. "Okie-dokie princess. We'll meet-a you in the council room," Luigi called out as walked back out of the room dragging his flummoxed brother with him. Bowser Junior blew a raspberry at their retreating forms.

"Toadsworth?" 

"Yes, princess?"

"Can you go with the boys? Make sure they don't get in trouble."

"Princess Peach. I would be more of use to you here."

Peach folded her hands together. "After you've constantly questioned my orders and trying to bait members of the royal family of the Darklands?"

Toadsworth gulped. "But...I...You see-"

"Go to the council room, Toadsworth." The smile on Peach's face disappeared. "Or do I have to unearth the Royal Dungeons?"

"No! Princess...I...uh...will wait with the others," Toadsworth stammered before scuttling out of the room. Once he was gone, Peach walked over to the unoccupied seat next to the panel and stretched out her right arm past the flaps into small cabinet beyond it.

"I'm ready." The security officer nodded and then began to type on the keyboard. The computer buzzed. 

**[User is trying to access surveillance records. Please enter password.]**

"What is all this," the crown Prince of the Koopas asked.

"You wanted proof that the Princess is innocent, yes? This is has the proof." Securi T. typed in the password and pressed Enter. 

**[Password accepted. Please present royal DNA. Press Enter to continue.]**

Securi T. looked over to Peach who nodded. "I'm ready."

They nodded and pressed the key once again. The computer began to chirp and beep and then there was a loud **THUNK. **Peach let out a pained gasp and doubled over in the chair, eyes squeezed shut. At the sound of her gasp, Junior was off the bed and over to his "Mama" in a flash.

"Mama Peach! Mama Peach! Are you okay? What did that bad man do to you? Hey!" He looked over at the Toad at the computer and yelled, "What did you do to my Mama?"

Bowser Junior took in a deep breath and for a moment it looked like he was going launch a fireball at Securi T. At the last second Peach reach over and grabbed his shoulder. He looked at the princess who just shook her head. "I'll be fine Junior. It was just a little prick. I don't like needles." 

_Ding! _

**[DNA accepted. Welcome Princess Peach.]**

"Princess?" Toadette was next to her, holding a large black towel. Peach took it and draped it over her right arm before pulling it out of the small cabinet. Ludwig joined Peach at her side looking at the now closed panel. "And pray tell what was that all for?"

Securi T. continued to type on the computer but answered the blue haired Koopa, "In order to get into the master security files and show that the footage was in no way doctored or manipulated, we need my passwords and Peach's DNA."

"I gathered that but what did that," the Prince pointed to the cabinet, "Do to her?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Ludwig hesitated and then said, "Well, yes."

The security officer motioned for the blue haired prince to come over and then whispered something in his ear. Ludwig recoiled in horror, face draining in color as he looked at the Toad, then to the Princess and then to the towel over the princess' arm. 

"Can't get more secure than that," Securi T. nudged the Koopaling with his elbow, "Am I right?"

"Toadette, could you get Ludwig a garbage can," Peach asked her retainer, "He looks like he's about to be sick."

"No! I'll..." He took a deep breath and straightened himself up. "I'll be fine."

"What does that little box do," asked Bowser Junior. Ludwig grimaced and waved him off. "I'll tell you later."

"Your Majesties. I found the footage," Securi T. announced. Hearing the Toad's declaration, the princes and the princess joined Securi T. at the console.

"First screen is the footage from the docks," they stated as he pointed to the top center screen and then the bottom one. "Second is footage from the Royal Raceway."

Securi T. let recordings play. One showed Bowser in a fierce fight with a purple fireball flinging, somehow flying Peach, just as Koopadelli had described. The other showed Princess Peach in the announcer's booth at the Royal Raceway commentating on a race with another Toad. The timestamps on the footage was identical. The attack on Bowser and the charity race happened at the same time. 

Junior was the first to speak up. "Two Mama Peach's? But how?"

"Not two brother," said Ludwig as he lowered his head.

"It's like how you dressed up as Mario when we were on Isle Delphino and he got in trouble for what you did," Peach explained.

"Ohhh."

Peach focused back on Ludwig. "And since we've shown that someone was impersonating me, you can call off the war and we can combine our efforts in finding out what really happened to Bowser, right?"

Ludwig continued to stare at the floor in silence. 

"Ludwig. Talk to me. You can call off the war, can't you," Peach asked him. She went to touch his arm but Ludwig stepped away from her just as her hand made contact. He had a pained look on his face.

"I....I need to get my siblings. With this new development," Ludwig took a deep breath and smoothed back his hair, "We need to have an emergency meeting with your council."

Peach nodded. "Very well, go and get your siblings. Junior go with him. No arguments." She turned to Securi T. "Can you guide them to the room when ready? And tell the others I shall be along shortly?"

The security officer bowed. "Of course, princess."

Ludwig gave Peach another bow before grabbing hit little brother by the arm and hauling him out of the room with Securi T. right behind them. Once they were gone, Peach dropped herself in the chair Securi T. occupied and let her head hit the console. "Toadette?"

Her faithful friend moved to her side, "Yes, Peach? What do you need?"

"Get me a Piranha Plant vodka. Make it a double."

**Author's Note:**

> This will update when it updates. My schedule is hectic as beans so....yeah.  
Comments are appreciated.


End file.
